Sayyaf hostages still alive — AFP

An American couple and 16 other hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf bandit group are still alive in the jungles of Basilan, the military said yesterday.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said intelligence reports indicate that the kidnappers are still holding Christian missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and 16 Filipinos in Tuburan, a jungle-clad town in Basilan.

"What we can say is that they’re still alive and still in the Tuburan area," Adan said.

He said, however, the hostages’ health could be deteriorating in Basilan’s rugged terrain, where malaria is endemic and drinking water is scarce.

"They are being given simple food and eat what the terrorists eat, and it’s possible that their health is being affected," Adan said.

He pointed out that the hostages are being forced to move from one locality to another to avoid detection by government troops.

‘We also learned they have been passed on from the main Abu Sayyaf group to a sub-commander," he said.

Adan said 1,000 troops have been sent to Basilan to augment 5,000 working to rescue the captives and crush the Abu Sayyaf, a rag-tag group of self-styled Islamic fighters believed to have once received aid from international terror suspect Osama bin Laden.

"We have just added two battalions in Basilan, so that the probability of contact will be increased," Adan said. – With Marichu Villanueva